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Lady Hawks win gold with Team Canada in Turkey

Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing

Feb 7/11

With the help of Laurier Lady Hawks Andrea Ironside, Andrea Martin, Liz Knox and Candice Styles, Canada successfully defended its Winter Universiade title in women's hockey Feb. 5. The team defeated Finland 4-1 in the gold-medal final at Cemal Gursel Arena in Turkey.

Canada also won gold in 2009 when the sport made its Universiade debut in Harbin, China, thanks to a 3-1 win over the host team.

"Finland came out really strong (on Saturday),” said team captain Ironside. “It was a tough game all the way through. We came here with a goal and we knew what we wanted to do. We're really excited to come out of this game on top. It's an unbelievable feeling right now."

"We came in as defending champs so we had some pressure on ourselves but we played through it all. I think we did a great job of stepping up to the challenge," added Ironside, one of six returnees from the 2009 championship team. "We are overjoyed with everything, from the organizing committee to the facilities and the people. Turkey has been truly phenomenal."

The red-and-white squad, comprised exclusively of Canadian Interuniversity Sport all-stars, finished the 2011 tournament with an unblemished 7-0 record including a 2-1 shootout victory over Finland (5-1-1) in their preliminary round opener on Jan. 27.

"It's a great moment for us. We didn't play our best game (Saturday). We did a lot of good things but we struggled a little bit in our zone. But in the end, we're a team that came together over the two weeks and we accomplished what we came here to do," said Team Canada head coach Les Lawton.

Four different players scored for Canada including University of Montreal's Kim Deschênes of Saint-Quentin, N.B., Guelph's Jessica Zerafa of Mississauga, Ont., as well as McGill teammates Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Îles, Que., and Carly Hill of Dorval, Que.

Wilfrid Laurier netminder Liz Knox of Stoufville, Ontario, made 20 saves to earn her fourth win in as many starts.